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Washington Capitals' Gravy Boat Giveaway is Promo Gold

The Washington Capitals will be doing their bit to moisten overcooked turkeys this Thanksgiving courtesy of an uncanny promotional product.

Fans attending the NHL team’s Nov. 22 game against the Ottawa Senators will receive a gravy boat in the form of a mini ice resurfacer. "Ice resurfacer" is the generic term for what fans typically call a "Zamboni" – the man-driven machine that comes out between periods in hockey games to smooth the ice. (To be a true Zamboni, the resurfacer has to be made by the Zamboni Company, but we digress.)

To the gravy boat at hand:

Fans willing to pay for theme night packages (starting at $69) on Nov. 22 will receive the unique piece of branded dinnerware just in time to grace their Turkey Day tables the next day with a showing of team pride that is sure to irk visiting family members who do evil things like root for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers.

As a hockey fan, you have to love a clever one-upper like that, eh hoser? Just think of watching your Penguins-loving cousin having to decide between conceding to use the Capitals gravy boat or trying to scarf down grandma’s dry turkey without the gravy’s lubricating assistance. It’s schadenfreude as delectable as apple pie.

As a promotional initiative, the Capitals are scoring big with the gravy boat, which is being presented by Walmart. After all, it’s unique, memorable, timely, useful, and genuinely expressive of the brand – all elements of a winning promotion.

In fact, the Capitals seem to have a knack for successful game day promos. This year, other branded products fans will receive with purchases of theme night packages include a puck-shaped bottle opener and a nifty Capitals ice scraper that features the shaft of a hockey stick that ends in an ice skate at the scraping edge.

Taco Bell, Forever 21 Launch Joint Fashion Line

Promotional clothing lines are a serious marketing opportunity for
brands. Need proof? Consider the latest iteration that was unveiled this
week in California.

Fast fashion retail chain Forever 21 and
fast food chain Taco Bell have teamed up to launch the limited-edition
Forever 21 x Taco Bell Collection, which officially hit the apparel
retailer’s website and select brick-and-mortar stores this week. It
debuted at a fashion show in Los Angeles on Tuesday and was announced on
Taco Bell’s Instagram with the hashtag #F21xTacoBell.

Among the apparel pickings
are cropped hoodies with the food chain’s iconic bell logo, graphic
T-shirts, shiny metallic anorak jackets, and even colorful bodysuits
that mimic Taco Bell’s hot sauce packets, featuring slogans like “Fire!
Don’t Wait Up.” There are also youth T-shirt, hoodie and jacket options,
along with iPhone cases. The men’s styles (including an anorak jacket
with major color-blocking) are already sold out.

Taco Bell says the unconventional offerings
are a serious part of its marketing strategy, which has focused on
social media and millennial-centric branding in recent years.

“We really took pains to make this a
legitimate collection that is relevant and fun and modern,” Marisa
Thalberg, Taco Bell’s CMO, said in a statement. “We’ve seen our fans get
individually creative in expressing their love for Taco Bell through
fashion, and we believe this collection with Forever 21 is going to be
everything they would expect from us in extending the Taco Bell
lifestyle to fashion: original, affordable, creative, a little quirky
and definitely fun.”

Taco Bell, which operates 7,000 locations across the U.S., is no
stranger to branded merch. At the food chain’s online Taco Shop, fans
can shop graphic T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, notebooks, pencils and
phone cases. One of its first forays into the fashion world was in 2014,
through a partnership with Los Angeles-based streetwear brand The
Hundreds to offer custom socks. And in 2016, Taco Bell opened a brick-and-mortar Taco Shop in Las Vegas, which sells apparel, towels, bikinis and swim trunks, caps, tie-dyed T-shirts, taco-shaped pillows and more.

In general, fast food fashion and branded merchandise are having a
moment. Pizza Hut, owned by Taco Bell parent company Yum Brands,
released a Hut Swag line in 2016,
featuring items like snapback caps and T-shirts with slogans, such as
“My Pizza My Life.” Another Yum brand, KFC opened the KFC Ltd. ecommerce store
earlier this year, offering sweatshirts, T-shirts, socks, jewelry,
scarves, lapel pins and pillowcases. And this summer, McDonald’s
unveiled a playful Big Mac collection featuring pajamas and pillows, among other items.

Additionally, it seems tacos in particular have major branding power. The Fresno Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team, rechristen the team as the Tacos
once a week during the season, with special Taco-emblazoned jerseys and
caps. The name originated from Californians’ long-time affinity for
taco trucks. “It definitely targets a younger crowd,” Sam Hansen,
director of marketing for the Fresno Grizzlies, told Advantages magazine
earlier this year. “Or at least that was the intention – I’ve noticed a
lot of older people starting to wear Tacos jerseys and hats.”